


I thought you'd never ask

by whitetip_reefshark



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kara's dumb, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Kiss, Lena's dumb, Sickfic, post-s5 and everything's fine, they're both dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 10:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30037179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitetip_reefshark/pseuds/whitetip_reefshark
Summary: Of fallen food, heroic rescues and accidental (?) kisses-----------Kara pulled away, slurping the noodle into her mouth and licked her lips with her now intimately-familiar tongue. A satisfied smirk slinked across from cheek to cheek."No food wastage on my watch," she declared. "I know your thoughts on the five-second rule." The wall clock ticked away helpfully in the background. Three times, Lena counted along. And then, her mouth clamped shut.Or: Lena finds herself under Kara’s care and is slowly driven insane
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 299





	I thought you'd never ask

"Kara, I don't think that's necessary." Trapped in place, her words were her last line of defence. A flimsy one at that — Kara paid it no mind, shuffling closer. 

In the span of one day, Lena had been forcibly relocated to Kara’s apartment away from her work, swaddled in her collection of fluffy pillows — _sixteen, there were sixteen of them_ — and now spoonfed by her very eager babysitter. "Doctor's orders," she'd reminded her each time. _Bullshit, the last one definitely wasn't one._

"Come on, you need to eat. I even got that eggplant pasta you wanted to try." She chided, twirling a generous portion onto her fork.

The smell was enticing, she'd give her that. If Kara had a behaviour chart, that'd be her lone gold star in a sea of angry faces — probably matching how her own crumpled in indignance as she shrunk away. But Kara was determined and soon, the fork bumped against her stubbornly sealed lips, leaving a red smear in its place. 

"I don't see why you couldn't have left me with my meal replacement shakes," she grumbled, dodging Kara's second attempt. 

The takeout container clattered into her lap. "I still can't believe you did that. I-I mean where's the joy in sipping a kale smoothie all day?" Fork flailing about with every gesture, Kara went about her tirade, injecting the same level of righteous fury into it as the day she discovered her secret stash. _Blasphemous, sacrilegious and a complete desecration of the gift of flavour_ , as she'd put it. Lena found herself more preoccupied with the slipping noodle strands — Kara's apartment didn't need any extra decorations.

It flew, as expected. Off the fork and into the air. If Lena weren't impressed with Kara's agility before, she definitely was now. Landing back on the couch with a bounce, she twirled another serving onto the utensil and pounced.

"There's the joy in —" Lena veered away and the utensil gave chase. "— increased productivity." Sliding down in her seat, her nose took the brunt of Kara's assault in her stead. 

In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have done that. Because Kara was clambering into her lap and the sliding of smooth skin against her bare thighs was all it took to send her reeling. _Embarrassing_. Lena suddenly wanted nothing more than to be put in the ground six feet under. But even through her mental haze, she could see Kara's eyes widening, like a cat with its prey in its sights… 

_Clack._ Her teeth snapped together before Kara could press her advantage. _Her dentist wouldn't be happy about that._

Leaning back, Kara let her crinkle do the talking. 

"I can feed myself!" She argued, wiggling in protest. 

Kara cocked her head. "With which hand?"

Glancing down at the matching casts below, tucked away in their own individual slings, she scowled. _Good point_. _Which was why she should be on meal replacements instead._ Unfortunately, it was too late now. She was stuck at Kara's for the foreseeable future and she didn't think Kara would tolerate them within a six mile radius from her home.

With a final, dramatic sigh (carrying the disclaimer in bold print that this absolutely wasn't her idea), she opened wide. 

"There we go! Now, do you want the airplane or the choo choo train?" Lena caught her biting down on her lip, stifling a snicker no doubt. She couldn't believe her. Kara was laughing. Lena, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, got her heel stuck on a very public sidewalk, tumbled down a very public flight of stairs and Kara was laughing. 

Another sigh, another emotional reset — enough for Lena to let it slide. "Neither, please."

The crinkle returned in full force. Lena watched in thinly veiled amusement as she cycled through expressions like a loading icon. 

To her credit, Kara bounced back quickly enough, lighting up once more with an even more dangerous (to Lena's dignity) gleam in her eye. 

"Here comes the dinosaur! Roar!" Kara sing-songed, waving the bundle of tagliatelle in front of her and easing it into her waiting mouth. 

The next step evaded her, as if Kara's cooing discovered the 'off' switch in her brain. With her mouth left hanging open, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Not if, but when. _Oh look, that noodle's had enough._ Slithering away to freedom, Lena didn’t have enough sense left to even attempt to stop it. 

Something rough and wet jolted her system into a hard reboot — a signal that her attention was sorely required elsewhere. _Forget the pasta, if she knew all it'd take was a sprinkle of food motivation, she would've laid herself out like a charcuterie board long ago._

Kara pulled away, slurping the noodle into her mouth and licked her lips with her now intimately-familiar tongue. A satisfied smirk slinked across from cheek to cheek. 

"No food wastage on my watch," she declared. "I know your thoughts on the five-second rule." The wall clock ticked away helpfully in the background. _Three times,_ Lena counted along. And then, her mouth clamped shut.

Current flowed through any closed circuit — no exceptions. From Lena to Kara; it was Kara's turn with the shock, bolting upright and almost toppling off the couch. They sat there, eyes locked and acutely aware of the electrifying tingling beneath their skin — or at least Lena was. 

She waited. Waited for the confession she'd spent her sleepless nights fantasising about, her fitful slumbers dreaming about. An odd feeling crawled its way up from her gut at Kara’s thoughtful look, establishing a settlement just behind her sternum. 

The expression never morphed into enlightenment. As the seconds ticked by, the feeling crumbled under its own weight. Civilisations rose and civilisations fell — that's the way of the world and whatever thrived in her heart for those few precious moments was not exempt. No longer did she hope for reciprocation; Lena would be content to receive a simple acknowledgement alone.

Something clicked. Kara lit up like a torch and Lena trailed along in a quiet resurgence. 

"Oh! You look like a T-Rex with those arms!"

_Of course._

Hope, as she'd learnt time and time again, was a painful thing. Lena didn’t have the energy to protest. Not for the rest of the meal and not when Kara produced a bright green marker and got to work. 

"A friend for you in case I have to go later," she explained. The newly minted T-Rex stared back, joining her in her shrug at Kara's antics. And when the lights flickered off and Kara floated away with their shared blanket, she realised that it glowed in the dark.

_It worked. Just a litte._ A piece of Kara snuggled close; almost enough to plug the yawning disappointment she'd left behind. 

\-------------

In the days that followed, she'd seen the footage enough times to sit through it with a blank face. No more phantom pains in her arm as she came into view, curled up on the concrete and none in her heart when Supergirl put a crater in the sidewalk with how quickly she descended upon the scene. 

Sometimes, if she let her mind wander enough, she swore Kara's concerned look went far deeper than platonic. _But really, what did she know about that?_ Half her relationships should’ve stayed friendships and all of them crashed and burned. 

The feeling was replaced by boredom. _Trust her to incapacitate herself in public on a slow news week._

"Lena Luthor found herself in the arms of a super again. Find out how —" _Again indeed._ She wasn’t sticking around to watch them pick apart their relationship for the seventy-fifth time.

Taking a leaf out of Kara's book, Lena pecked at the remote. And when the device hunkered down in its disobedience, Kara glanced up from her work laptop, glasses askew. 

"What do you wanna watch?" She asked, remote pointed at the flatscreen TV. 

"Anything you want, just something else."

Kara hummed, scrolling through the channel directory. "90 Day Fiancé?" 

"Sure."

They were dropped right into a loud argument. Something about shaving that devolved into table flipping. It was riveting, really. The same way junk food scratched a particular itch in the brain's neural systems. That argument wasn't the last. Like dominos, one fight nudged them towards another. Scripted and meticulously edited — Lena was still hooked regardless. Until finally, to absolutely no one's surprise, the couple called it quits. 

"They're both assholes!" she exclaimed. Turning to Kara, she realised she already had her full attention. 

Kara blinked. "Y-yeah, they're horrible! So, _so_ terrible." 

A split second was all she had but Lena didn’t miss her tender gaze and the slight quirk of her lips. It brought her back to the news footage — how they zoomed in on Kara's face was burnt into her retinas at this point. But for what it's worth, she swore it was an offshoot of that very same look. 

\-------------

It happened again a week from then, on a Friday night. After Kara wheeled her around the hospital in a wheelchair she didn't need, was mistakenly referred to as her wife three times and bought a dozen tacos to celebrate her smooth recovery. 

_"But I haven't recovered yet."_

_"It's going great so far and if we celebrate now, the universe will be far too embarrassed to let it go any other way!"_

Lena still wasn't convinced with her master plan. In fact, she would've remained staunchly unconvinced if she'd remembered that tacos were messy and prone to droppage. But 'no' wasn't a word she said to Kara often and was promptly retracted in those rare instances she did. 

So there she was, locking lips with Kara between a cube of grilled chicken, swallowing down the breathy exhale that threatened to make itself known as her lips brushed hers. 

She should’ve expected it. That when Kara loaded both her hands with tacos, she'd swoop in like a thieving seagull to rescue any falling chunks Lena might've missed. 

"You had a little something there." 

_Brushing it off again, were they?_ Lena could do that, she definitely could. Definitely. Most certainly.

She could not. 

Maybe if there were work to do, clients to please, science to explore and galas to plan, she would've succeeded. But there weren't. Plus, Kara was always _right beside_ her. Slowly creeping closer until her arm rested around her shoulders, helping her in the bath with her eyes screwed shut. (Her hands playing a dangerous game of Hot and Cold with only a washcloth between them but that's something Lena chose to repress.) And once night fell, they shuffled into her lone bedroom, Lena remaining acutely aware of the neighbouring warmth while Kara slowly curled around her. At least, until she decided she wanted to be a hot air balloon. 

_An experiment then_. Twice could just be a coincidence, but thrice? That's a pattern. Lena could conclude that Kara knew exactly what she was doing and then… _Well, she hadn't gotten that far ahead yet. She'll figure it out in time._

**Experiment One:**

Subject filled hands with tacos again. Observer ejected a chunk of ground beef from mouth.

Result: kiss received (2 seconds)

Three out of three. Lena frowned deeply enough for Kara to notice from the corner of her eye.

"Shhhh no thinking," her thumb rubbed deep circles into her glabella. "Doctor's orders." 

It was the sort of tenderness one would look forward to in a lover — attentive massages, head against shoulders and the gentle caressing of hair. Kara was humming now, an unfamiliar lullaby she'd need to ask her about someday. Not today though. Her eyelids were growing heavy. 

When she awoke in Kara's lap, the weight of her predicament crashed onto her anew. Lena could talk to Kara about it; should _definitely_ talk to Kara about it. But Kara was blinding from above, looking like she'd plucked the sun out of the sky while she was out and was now eagerly presenting it to her as a gift. _Lena wouldn't put it past her_ — Kara was always generous with her gestures, big or small. Grin widening at her return to consciousness, her hands snaked over. One stroking her cast where her T-Rex stood and the other… squishing her nose under her finger. 

"Welcome back," she whispered, the words delicate on her groggy senses. "Doctor's orders felt good, didn't it?"

"Stop it," she grumbled, squirming like a worm in the grasp of an apathetic bird. Until suddenly, there was nothing beneath her. Gone was the safety net of Kara and her cushions. Lena felt her life flash before her eyes a second time this month. 

She jerked, her fall broken abruptly. Something hard braced her precarious position. Not… flat like the floor, just bumpy and smooth and warm. _Oh._ Kara.

There was no dignity in being hefted back up like an overweight seal but she let her anyway. Body limp, she was more than content to leave the heavy lifting to Kara and just languish in her arms. 

It was time well spent. Within the first minute in her new comfortable position, Lena realised one thing — she didn't want to stop.

_Best out of six then._

\--------------

**Experiment Two:**

Subject rescued slice of tomato with mouth.

Result: kiss received (3 seconds)

**Experiment Three:**

Subject refused to handle fallen kale leaf with bare hands. 

Result: disappointment (1 day and counting)

Five out of six. 83.3% of the time, Kara had her lips to hers. That's five more than expected between friends. (And one fewer than she'd hoped for.) 

Lena should talk to her. She really should. Just sit her down, tell her how she felt and put an end to their vaguely-platonic-but-really-all-round-homoerotic lip locking. And if Lena had her way, they could get down to the actual act, free from any interference — edible or not. 

The absentminded prodding at her cheek morphed into purposeful squeezes. 

"Kara, know that I have a mental list of every instance you've taken advantage of my vulnerability." Lena had meant it as a threat. A devastating one at that, only reserved for the most egregious of transgressions and her own family. 

Alas, retaliation came in the form of puppy dog eyes. "You'd take revenge on me?" _Damn it._ Kara was too good at this, down to the exact angle for maximum eye-sparkle.

And the next thing she knew, Kara was getting off scot-free and launching herself over. 

"I knew you loved me too much!" 

Lena rolled her eyes, turning with a rebuttal ready on the tip of her tongue — 

Kara's lips collided with the corner of her own; it dissipated.

Six seconds — that's how long Kara lingered in her personal bubble. Lena didn’t miss the stuttered breath and the loud thumping of her heart as she pulled away. _Or maybe it's her own._ She didn’t know anymore. 

Their eyes met, made brief contact before Kara's slid away. She licked her lips and her gaze sank further, suddenly spinning great epics in the weaves of her rug. Except, Kara's hand was still splayed over her thigh, unmoving. A pretense, as if she wouldn't notice, as if Lena would believe it a part of her this entire time. _Although, it could be. A part of her, that is._ Hope could be extinguished but her yearning refused to die. 

And when Lena focused, she could feel it. Their pulses were in sync, sprinting alongside each other in a quick staccato beat. Her heart was a pyre and in a crescendo of bittersweet crackles, it ignited once more. 

_Best out of ten wouldn't hurt._

\-------------

**Experiment Four:**

Subject pushed cheesecake back into Observer's mouth. Crust was suspiciously missing. 

Result: kiss received (8 seconds with surprise tongue)

**Experiment Five** :

Subject begrudgingly assisted with broccoli in very precarious position.

Result: kiss received (13 seconds, plus grumbling)

Lena lay awake at night. They were getting longer, the 'kisses' if she could even call them that. It's almost like a daily ritual where everything was put aside, their eyes fluttering shut while Kara leaned in closer. 

"What should I do?" It felt silly now, like they were pining after each other through a glass wall when the automatic door was just a foot away. Assuming she hadn't misinterpreted what Kara had been miming to her all this time… Which would be even more silly and Lena might just need to disappear off the face of the Earth. _Maybe she could colonise Mars._

T-Rex glowed in support but held no solution for her. 

"Sleep," Kara growled into her ear. Lena almost jumped — she was much closer than she remembered. Would have too if it weren't for the firm weight pressing her down into the mattress. Cold hand thawing against her exposed stomach and icy feet against her shin, Lena began to question why she'd fallen for this living freezer. One who clearly didn't have enough respect for humanity's homeostatic ways to generate her own heat. 

But then she nuzzled closer and mumbled, "goodnight, love you." 

_A compelling argument, indeed._ Lena only took a moment to consider before the verdict emerged. _Nevermind, she took it all back._ There were plenty of reasons to love Kara and none for why she shouldn't.

\-------------

Supergirl business came knocking on day eighteen, which was far longer than Lena had initially anticipated. 

_"I'm sorry, Lena. I have to go. Alex said it's big, growly and very keen on sampling that weird overhang on Lord Technologies." Kara had her hands balled over her own, visibly unwilling to let go._

_"Are you sure you can't just let it?" It was only half a joke. A small vindictive part of her heart chimed in that it was Maxwell's turn on the news cycle._

_Shoulders heaving along with her sigh, Kara gave her hands an apologetic squeeze. "Sorry, it's tempting but Supergirl's got to be there for everyone. I'll be back with dinner, okay?"_

Kara took off soon after. Three hours ago. Without her hands to fiddle with, Lena took to pacing the length of the apartment. _Ten steps, turn, don't stub your — ow, what did I just say? Six steps turn, glance at the window_. In all honesty, it was a poor replacement for her usual nervous tic. 

Three and a half now. If only she'd asked Kara to put one of those news channels on for her. With the live updates, she could at least decide for herself how much she needed to worry. 

The remote caught her eye from across the room. Tentatively, Lena approached and when she loomed over where it lay on the coffee table, she paused to consider. 

_Bad idea; she clearly didn't think it through enough._ Toes were ill-equipped to handle precision work — what jabbing at the remote felt like with both arms out of commission, tucked away in their respective slings. She really should've insisted on removing them before Kara hopped out the window. Yet another oversight. _She was really losing her edge._

_Oh god, what if the alien ate Kara? Just swallowed her whole. Given a choice between tempered glass and one beefy Kryptonian, she knew which she'd pick in a heartbeat._

"Hey Lena, sorry it took so long —" Kara never got to finish her sentence. Not with Lena launching herself at her at full speed. 

"I was starting to think it ate you," she confessed into the confines of Kara's arms, cheeks pressing into a rough length of fabric. Jerking away, her eyes traced downwards. _A sling?_ "What happened to your arm? Why didn't it heal?"

Kara blinked, following her gaze until her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, I'm fine. It's just… I was hanging around the med bay for a bit and I thought we could, you know, match." Bumping their slings together, she continued, "See, same colour!" 

And in that very moment, Lena was ready to give Kara anything she wanted. 

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Give me a sec!" Kara dropped the takeout bags onto her coffee table and sped off into her room, returning with a bright yellow marker. 

"A little T-Rex whispered to me that it was getting lonely," she said. Gently easing Lena's left arm out of her sling, she cradled it in one hand while the other scritch-scratched on the rough surface. 

The marker slipped. "Dang it." It hovered in place; Kara made no move to continue.

"Velociraptor?" She prompted.

"No, velocerberus!" A few quick strokes later, two more heads poked up at her. "In case I have to go again." 

She didn't but under the cover of night when her mind refused rest, they were reassuring all the same. 

\-------------

Lena abandoned her experiment on day twenty-three the second Kara decided to expand her repertoire by licking soup off her chin. The prognosis was grave — Lena doesn't think she'll ever recover from the shock it administered to her system. Sighing, she resigned herself to just go along for the ride, just slip down the waterslide and hope she didn't break any more bones on the other side.

"Um, Earth to Lena?" The dumpling wiggled in her face. 

"Sorry, I was just thinking…" _About you. About us. About what on earth we're doing._

"Hey, no more work until you recover okay? Not even in that big brain of yours." Kara lowered her chopsticks, patiently awaiting her response.

"Fine."

"Good," she chirped. "Now, open wide!"

The dumpling bunny-hopped towards her until it was in eating range. Kara held out her hand underneath — a safety net, as she'd called it.

"You're a surprisingly messy eater without your hands," she laughed, dumpling bobbing along with every beat. Lena must've been conditioned to pull her weight — there's no other way to rationalise it. How she came charging in with the timely addition of percussion from her choking on air. 

It's sweet how Kara rushed over in a burst of superspeed, fussing over her with such frantic energy despite the reassurances that she was completely fine. 

"I think you're just a klutz in general." Kara settled down again. This time, close enough so their knees touched. 

"And is that okay? That I'm… clumsy now." Disingenuous — that's what it was. To pretend that she didn't orchestrate it, didn't take pleasure in it. 

"Yeah… o-of course," Lena allowed Kara to press the dumpling onto her tongue. "Just means I've got to take care of you better." 

It just happened. _Karmic retribution for her machinations, no doubt._ Being preoccupied with Kara's words meant forgetting their current circumstances and forgetting left gravity an opening. An opening to bat the morsel of food away because according to pet/Kara rules, the floor was free game. 

Except, Kara didn't let it. Thin, translucent skin grazed the roof of her mouth first, a tongue second and supple lips against hers third. Staring into each other's eyes at such close proximity had the unfortunate effect of leaving her cross-eyed. But despite being a mere smear in her vision, Lena could read her intentions well enough. A nose brushed against her own and her eyes fluttered shut in a silent plea. 

Of course, the dumpling had to remind them of its presence. Or rather, that in the time they'd left it unattended, it'd relocated itself down Lena's throat. _The grim reaper was being very persistent this month. Quotas to meet, perhaps?_ Her chuckle was buried under the violent coughing and heaving though not enough to escape Kara's super-hearing. Laughter did have a certain musicality to it after all, and under her desperate gasping for breath… _Well, let's just say she fully deserved the alarmed look Kara shot her._

Death failed again that nondescript evening. The dumpling was dislodged, expelled from her throat with such force that she felt like an automated dog ball launcher. 

Kara ate it anyway, even after watching it roll around the upholstery and then the floor. Lena didn’t know how to feel about that — a problem for future. Currently, she was far too exhausted from her near brush with nonexistence to examine the burning sensation in her gut. 

\------------

There's something about the night that emboldened her. Perhaps, it was the darkness feeding her delusions of grandeur. Promises of invincibility and her eventual triumph — the whole hero's journey crammed into one neat package. All she needed to do was to set it in motion.

Against the protests from the vestiges of her rational mind, reminders that no such plot armour existed for her, she soldiered on. 

(And maybe, just a little bit, it's because Kara was holding her in her arms — sandbags against the bomb she was about to detonate whilst comfortably nestled between the sheets.)

"Kara?"

A grunt. 

"Do you… want to kiss me?" The words slipped out as a pathetic whisper she wasn't sure Kara caught. 

A sliver of blue peeked out at her, its crystalline glint a reflection of the faint city lights. Suddenly, Lena didn't feel so alone. 

One blink, akin to an errant click on Lena's OS; a list popped up uninvited — perfect night vision, seeing through walls, seeing through her. In a flash, she was stripped of her armour, her conviction abandoned. She stared back at them wide-eyed, in horror of what she'd done. 

Those vibrant blues quickly disappeared once more and with a trembling sigh, Lena, too, shut her eyes for the night. 

Then, the sheets rustled, as if disturbed by a cumbersome weight. _Kara_ , she realised when she felt an arm sliding across her belly, careful to avoid both slings. Tickles of her breath dusted the length of her neck, her ear and next, her cheek. The fleshy tip of her nose followed, nudging against it. Lena had to squeeze her eyes shut at that before she startled Kara out of it. They were on the cusp of something — she could feel it. From how Kara hesitated, how the silence was punctuated by Kara's loud swallow, her breathing shallow. 

Kara inch closer, her lips parting slightly. 

"Always." 

A sharp gasp fought its way up through her airway and that was it. The tenuous moment was sliced apart, leaving her in the aftermath both devastating and underwhelming. 

Dropping back down against her pillow, Kara went still, playing at the perfect slumbering being. 

Lena knew better. 

\------------

"More popcorn?" Kara leaned in close to ensure her offer reached Lena's ears. What with the screaming in the background and accusations of cheating being thrown about. 

"Yes, please." Her turn to lean over. They'd been mimicking a budget Newton's cradle all night and from the swift escalation they were currently witnessing, they'd be swinging into each other's ears for the rest of Game Night. 

Winn was launching his monopoly bills at Alex now — a shame living in the future didn't make him more creative — while Alex scrambled for her own choice of projectiles. The ruckus only grew as he was hit with a faceful of hotels; Lena could already foresee the noise complaints arriving on their — _Kara's —_ doorstep the next morning. 

Another piece grazed her bottom lip and instinctively, she knew. It would never arrive at its intended destination, destined instead to be lost forever in the crevices of the couch. _Oh no._

The fight halted and the room fell silent — all directing their intense scrutiny onto the two of them instead.

Brainy was the first to speak. A simple statement, "You kissed her." Behind, the old alarm clock behind ticked in amusement, running its own commentary of the scene. 

"N-no, it's just that… Lena can't use her hands right now and the popcorn needed rescuing!" Kara's hands seemed to develop a mind of their own, gesticulating wildly and doing that scooping motion Lena found incredibly apt. Because really, all she achieved was digging her own grave. 

"So, you kissed her?" Alex's incredulity spelled a future _very long talk._ Beside her, Kara gulped. 

"I-I… it wasn't a kiss!" Her hands shot out in front of her this time, waving like supercharged fan blades, picking up a stack of one thousand dollar bills and sending them off into the distance. Lena might just have a Best Over-actor award custom-made and presented to her once this was all over. 

"Awww Kara, you two are so sweet." Nia poured her own serving of gasoline into the fire. 

"Yes! Very sweet friends, we're not dating —"

"Even I don't do that with Alex." Kelly supplied helpfully. 

"Yeah, it's gross! You're both gross!" 

Game night quickly descended into what felt like a media shitshow. With their friends dogpiling Kara left and right, her reprieve arrived in the beeping of Brainy's watch declaring the arrival of midnight. 

It wasn’t until the last of their amateur reporters trickled out that Kara could finally breathe easy. Slumped against the door, she turned to Lena. 

"I think I did a pretty good job convincing them, if I say so myself." 

_No, she did not._

Wordlessly, Lena joined her with her back against the adjacent wall. They sighed in unison. 

"About last night," she began. 

Kara's next breath was postponed indefinitely. She heard it gurgle and die within her throat.

"Did you mean what you said?" 

Her hands shook — it was happening all over again. "Um, bedtime! Sleep! Quick recovery! Let's go!"

Lena didn’t push any further. 

\------------

As the days passed, they found themselves at an impasse. Standing before a yawning canyon on opposing sides, neither willing to take the final leap across. Except, when she brushed dangerously close to the edge and Lena could see. Up close, the little pinpricks in the illusion revealed themselves, hiding in plain sight. That they'd fooled themselves into perceiving an insignificant gap as a bottomless ravine. 

But she'd also learnt that things too good to be true were often so. Painfully. Multiple times. So Lena kept her mouth shut, let Kara lean over every meal to press her lips to hers, hiding behind the veneer of platonic intentions even when she lingered for far too long. 

The cast came off on a Wednesday. Hump day. For once, Lena felt its effects. A dreadful, _dreadful_ day. The only silver lining being the compliments she received on the decorative dinosaurs on each cast — Kara positively glowed at the praise. 

But they cut them off anyway; all four of them gone. Lena took it back. _It was a brass lining at best._

Kara helped her pack when they returned, turning a deaf ear to her protests. 

"No strenuous activities! Doctor's orders." A burst of nostalgia threatened to overcome her, taking her back five weeks ago when it all started. 

And now, it's ending.

"Thank you, Kara. For everything you've done." Internally, she was already making plans — what exotic foods she could import on such short notice, how many potstickers she could fit into her car and the like. To just even things out a little. 

"Anytime," she leaned against the doorframe, all casual despite the unmistakable waver in her voice. "I'd do it for the rest of my life if you asked."

"I think I'd like my bones intact, thank you very much." They chuckled at that. Sour, bitter, all the world's worst flavours rolled into one synchronous bout of laughter. 

Kara spoke first, a small spark that crawled its way into the cavity of her chest and nuzzling against her heart. Soon, the weary pyre burned, flames scouring through the ashes and charred remains for the next viable piece of kindling. 

"Can I…" She trailed off. Lena took the liberty to stamp out the embers. _It wouldn't happen, not today._

"Can I walk you down?" She asked.

"Of course." 

Kara slung her bulky overnight bag over her shoulder. Escorting her down the stairs, opening doors for her, helping her into the back of her town car — almost as if her casts were still on. 

For as long as they could, they kept their eyes locked through the window. Even as they pulled away, even when distance rendered Kara an indistinguishable blur on the sidewalk, she still managed a weak wave. For her benefit. 

"Are you alright, Miss Luthor?" Her driver asked through the partition.

"Yes, George. I'm fine."

\------------

Box of macarons in hand, Lena found herself at Kara's door, hand poised to knock.

"Lena! I was just about to drop by." Watching Supergirl, soot-stained and clutching onto a dinosaur painting still felt surreal no matter how she looked at it. She focused her attention on the painting instead — the least likely to give her whiplash. 

Amongst the photorealistic foliage, she saw a familiar three-headed dino, cuddling with a neon green T-Rex. _Funny how Kara could make anything work._

"You're probably tired of staring at my face all day." Kara explained. In her defence, that was a very good portrait of Kara taken as a parting gift from James. _Thankfully, he didn't question too much when Lena asked for another copy_. "And you looked kinda sad when they took the casts off so — wait is that for me?" 

"No, I just wanted to give you a whiff before I ate them all in front of you." Lena's commitment to the whole routine shattered when Kara puffed out her cheeks. 

Glasses finding their place on her nose once more, her civilian clothes appeared in place of the soiled supersuit. _Completely stain-free_ , Lena noted. _How convenient._

"Fine, they're for you." She caved and lifted the lid. Sixty-four macarons sat in full view, prime for Kara's inspection.

Rubbing her hands together, Kara popped the nearest one — lime green — into her mouth.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." Lena hesitated, feeling much like an interloper interrupting Kara's quality time with her food. 

She needn't have worried. "Oh, me too. What about?" A second macaron disappeared. Baby pink this time, joining its predecessor in her dedicated food processor. _One day, she'll convince Kara not to talk with her mouth full._

Leading Kara back into her apartment like the pied piper, Lena set the box down on her table. Bright yellow next. 

"You go first." Lena needed to know for sure… _were they on the same wavelength?_

"No, you go first." Chocolate brown next — her cheeks were stuffed like a hamster's now. 

"No, you can go first." Lena insisted.

"You should go first." Kara settled into her Supergirl stance but Lena couldn't take it seriously with her rapid chewing. 

"No, you should." 

"No, you first." _Oh they were bickering like children now, weren't they?_

"You first."

"No, you!"

"No, you."

"You!"

"Oh god dammit —" Lena couldn't take it anymore. _To hell with the consequences. They'd work their way back to best friendship if things didn't pan out._ But she found herself cut off. 

"Can I kiss you?" 

Lena didn’t remember throwing herself at Kara, but she did relish the feeling of hopeful arms encircling her, lifting her up in the air. Wrapping her own arms around her neck, she pressed their foreheads together. 

"I thought you'd never ask."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for sticking around! Writing extensively from Lena's pov thoroughly kicked my ass and I wasn't entirely happy with how it turned out. But I've read it so many times that everything felt like word salad so to ao3 it went!


End file.
